Culture of Silence

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller, speaking about the inaction of intellectuals during the Nazis’ rise to power.

According to Wikipedia, a Culture [or Conspiracy] of Silence “…relates to a condition or matter which is known to exist, but by tacit communal unspoken consensus is not talked about or acknowledged…[including]…Breaches of human rights, such as vanishing persons…”